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The critical role of co-worker involvement: An extended measure of the workplace environment to support work–life balance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2019

Lisa Bradley Open the ORCID record for Lisa Bradley [Opens in a new window] ,
Paula McDonald  and
Stephen Cox
Lisa Bradley*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St, Brisbane 4001, Australia
Paula McDonald
Affiliation:
School of Management, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St, Brisbane 4001, Australia
Stephen Cox
Affiliation:
QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lm.bradley@qut.edu.au
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Abstract

This paper extends the work of Thompson, Beauvais, and Lyness (1999, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 392–415) on work–family culture by considering the role co-workers play. The proposed extended measure encompasses non-work spheres beyond the family as it has been established that much of the extant research does not include a large part of the workforce – those without childcare responsibilities (Kelliher, Richardson & Boiarintseva [2019, Human Resource Management Journal, 29, 101]). The extended measure constitutes Thompson et al.'s (1999) three original dimensions plus two additional dimensions: co-worker involvement (support and consequences) and gender expectations. Two quantitative studies confirmed that the extended measure is robust for different types of workers (part- and full-time, males and females). The co-worker dimensions were significantly associated with several outcome measures; however, the gender expectation dimensions added little additional variance in relation to employee outcomes. The results support the inclusion of co-workers as an important dimension of the workplace environment that supports work and life balance.

Keywords

co-worker involvementwork–life balanceworkplace environmentco-worker supportmanager support
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , March 2023 , pp. 304 - 325
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2019

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